PRZOOM - /newswire/ -
Redbourn, Herts, United Kingdom, 2009/09/07 - A quarterly global survey of hiring and firing trends covering more than 7000 organisations in 34 countries has found job prospects for professionals and managers improving for the first time since the autumn of 2008.

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The ‘Global Snapshot’ from the international recruitment firm, Antal, asked 7397 companies in major markets such as western and eastern Europe, Africa, India, China and the USA whether they were currently hiring at professional and managerial level. It then asked whether they planned to do so in the coming quarter and whether they were currently letting staff go or were planning to do so in the next three months. Current hiring across the globe was up from 46% of respondents in the spring to 50% now. And the percentage of organisations intending to hire in the coming quarter was up from 44% to 48%. At the same time the percentage of organisations intending to shed staff had fallen from 35% in the spring to 25% now.

Western Europe
The highest current hiring levels amongst the larger economies were in France (54%), UK (50%) Belgium (50%) and Germany (46%). The lowest level of hiring was in Switzerland at 35% of businesses surveyed, reflecting the economy’s reliance on the financial sector.

Eastern Europe and Eurasia
The highest recruiting levels in this region were in Russia (62%), the Czech Republic (60%), Poland (53%) and Bulgaria (54%). Hungary’s well-documented economic problems meant that it had the lowest level of hiring in the region with only 26% of businesses questioned actively seeking new managers or professionals.

Africa and the Middle East
After a dip in demand for staff in the spring, hiring in Egypt had rebounded to make it the most vibrant job market in the region with a hiring level of 61%. Despite the evident end of the ‘boom’ market in the Gulf, hiring levels in the UAE were still relatively robust at 46% and looked set to rise to 49% in the coming quarter.

Asia
After a substantial dip in hiring levels at the start of 2009, confidence has definitely returned to the Chinese jobs market with hiring levels up to 74%.The picture in India is a similar one to that in China with the professional jobs market making a substantive recovery after a major loss of confidence at the start of 2009. Current India hiring levels are up to 51% from 29%.

The Americas
Although the economic picture in the USA is decidedly mixed the latest Snapshot suggests a definite improvement in the professional and managerial jobs market. The percentage of organisations hiring has risen to 55% from 43% in April and of those intending to hire in the coming quarter to 56% from 34%. Furthermore firing levels are down, albeit marginally from 38% to 34%.

Conclusions
“We would be very brave, or possibly very foolhardy, to assert that the economic crisis that has assailed the world is over,” says Antal’s CEO, Tony Goodwin, “but there is little doubt that the results of this edition of Global Snapshot give cause for some optimism. The hiring and firing of staff is one of the most effective measures of business confidence and there is no denying that, with a few exceptions, the jobs market for professionals and managers is improving all around the world.”

“Of course there may still be unforeseen troubles waiting around the corner - the W-shaped recession or the ‘dead cat bounce’, for example, so beloved by the more apocalyptic commentators. But what may save us even if they are lying in ambush is an underlying sense of confidence that appears to be returning for the first time in nearly two long and difficult years.”

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